Avoiding Cramps in Your Hands and Wrists While Writing or Knitting
What caused your hands to cramp up?
If you regularly write, knit, sew, or work with your hands on any sort of regular basis, you're probably well aware of how easily a cramp can occur and how frustrating it can be when these pains hold you back for hours, or keep showing up across days.
Sudden cramps in your hands or fingers are quite common, and you most often get them while you're using your hands in some way. You might be knitting a baby beanie for a dear friend who is soon to be a parent, playing guitar, or driving somewhere in your car. Your hand might refuse to open after being held shut for some time (like around your steering wheel), or you might decide to stretch your fingers out in an idle moment and suddenly discover that they are stuck that way and maybe even hurting.
Yes, cramps in your hands are very common, but you don't have to live with them.
Since the muscles in your hands and fingers are so small, they will sometimes cramp up without causing you one bit of pain. Your finger might feel and look as it's being bent to one side, or the usually fluid motions of your fingers will suddenly become a bit unusual for a couple of seconds.
Since we do so much intricate stuff with our hands, these cramps really don't have to hurt to be a problem. I do a lot of writing by hand, and it just got harder and harder to do as I got older without any trouble. About a year ago I discovered an Amish remedy that you can use to prevent hand cramping, and I keep a bottle or two in my house at all times, it's really the only quick fix I've ever found.
You can learn about this product at http://www.stopslegcramps.com, and yes it's called Stops Leg Cramps but it works just as well on the ones in your hands.
Instead of just stopping there, I'd like to also go over some general information because I'm sure nobody wants to have to take a product all the time for something they might be able to prevent themselves eventually.
Stretching and Strengthening Your Hands
A good way to prevent muscle cramps in any muscle of your body is to work towards strengthening and regularly stretching that muscle. The range of muscle movement in your hands is pretty simple, and opening and closing your hands either by themselves or with some sort of resistance device like a grip strengthener or stress ball will cover everything.
Squeezing something too hard with your hands can cause a cramp, so if you're having a lot of problems with hand cramps right now then you might want to hold off on too much of the exercising, or try taking the Amish remedy mentioned above before doing it to prevent them.
Techniques to Relieve Hand Cramps and Pain/Soreness
- Stretch your hands occasionally while performing tasks that require the use of your hand muscles, and consider getting into the habit of stretching your hands throughout the day. Curl your hand into a fist, hold for a second or two, and release. You can also do the opposite of this and extend your fingers as far as they will go, being sure that you feel a light pressure in your palm. Another good stretch can be done by keeping your fingers aligned and stretching them outwards from each other, so that your index finger goes towards your thumb and your pinky finger goes the exact opposite way.
- Consider massaging a sore or cramping area of your hand with the opposite hand, and rotating as necessary. If you are really in pain, get somebody else to gently massage your hands with lotion or oil.
- Hot water does a muscle good, and all of the tiny muscles that run up and down your fingers, hands, and wrists can benefit a great deal from a quick soak in some warm water. Prepare a tub that fits your entire hands without overflowing with warm to hot water, and allow your hands to soak for 10-15 minutes as your schedule permits. Be careful not to introduce your hands to anything too cold for a while after soaking.
Healthy Blood Flow
Healthy blood flow greatly promotes healthy muscles. It is your blood that delivers oxygen and essential nutrients to your muscles, nutrients that are absolutely essential to the proper and healthy function of virtually every muscle in your body, be it a bulging bicep or a tiny muscle in the palm of your hand.
If you've never had hand cramps before, it could be that the veins that carry blood throughout your arms and hands are to blame. Consult your doctor about blood pressure, varicose veins and any other blood-flow related condition that might be attributing to the cramps in your hands.
Other than that, drinking plenty of water and getting enough exercise will have you on the up-and-up towards less cramping issues and a longer life!
Summary
So, to sum it all up, there is an Amish remedy (now available as a product at your health store called Stops Leg Cramps) that does the trick most of the time.
Regularly doing some simple stretches with your hands and fingers while you are writing, sewing, or doing any other activity with your hands is a good way to prevent cramps.Gradually increasing the strength of your hands through simple exercises, and being sure to eat healthy foods and drinking plenty of water can all also help out.
I hope this article has proven useful to you, and after trying a few of my techniques you'll be able to take care of all of your day-to-day needs without any hand cramps or soreness slowing you down or lowering the quality of your work.
Additional Resources
- Writer's cramp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Writer's Cramp, much different from common hand cramps, is something that should be considered if you are having serious issues with muscle cramping in your fingers or hands. Learn more on Wikipedia